Workplace procrastination is not something that is hidden from your eyes; you can easily see people in your surroundings who indulge in such activities. Workplace procrastination can take various forms. One of the simple examples of workplace procrastination is someone who watches funny reels on the internet, instead of working on an important project at that time. Correspondingly, the other example of workplace procrastination is someone who keeps ignoring writing the crucial report by spending their time on unimportant related tasks.
Additionally, workplace procrastination is also referred to with non-work presenters that happen when employees are involved in personal activities rather than work-related activities while on the job. For example, this is the form of workplace procrastination when someone is busy shopping for personal items instead of getting busy in working activities during the workday.
Moreover, you can find a long list of several examples of workplace procrastination but they associate with a couple of types of workplace procrastination
Online Workplace Procrastination
This is associated with cyberslacking and it includes spending work time doing non-work activities through digital devices such as browsing social media applications on one’s smartphone.
Offline Workplace Procrastination
This type of procrastination is referred to as soldiering and it includes spending time in activities that are non-work related by not using digital devices. For example daydreaming, gossiping, and taking long breaks.
Keep in mind that these examples of workplace procrastination are discussed with the narrow point of view where we can see the necessary involvement with non-work-related activities. Therefore, it is also possible to consider workplace procrastination as any procrastination associated with work activities; even it does not count as those activities.
Read this article: The Problem Of Workplace Procrastination
Such as, this type occurs when someone spends time working on simple and insignificant work-related tasks, it feels like putting off working on important work assignments that seem overwhelming. Additionally, the particular point of view of workplace procrastination recommends that this way of procrastination should include no intention to cause hurt toward the workplace, the employer, client, or the employee. Thus, it is also an example of workplace procrastinating as an attitude that can involve such an intention in some cases. For example, someone takes a long time to accomplish a task they are required to.
On the other hand, for such behavior to consider procrastination, there is no practical perk for the procrastinator, yet one of the noticeable characteristics of procrastination is that it is superfluous. It means that there is a situation when an employee postpones an important task because an upcoming negotiation with their management is not considered as procrastination, thus the nature is strategic.
Bottom Line
Generally, looking in a broader sense, workplace procrastination is associated with any pointless postponement of work-related activities. This can involve, such as utilizing time on social media rather than working on reports, taking too many long breaks throughout the day, or postponing working on an important phone call by working on trivial tasks instead. Additionally, in particular cases, workplace procrastination is considered in a narrower sense, like the attitude that involves engaging in non-work-related activities or must involve with no intention to cause harm.